Yukon Warbler Newsletter of the Yukon Bird Club Fall 2012 NAOC-V Nares Mountain Hike Christmas Bird Count 2012 Birdathon Yukon Bird Observatories Yukon Bird Club Submissions and Comments Wanted Please send us your articles and photos Promoting awareness, appreciation, and conservation of Yukon birds (with dates and locations). The newsletter and their habitats editor can be reached at: [email protected] Regular mail can be sent to the Yukon Bird The Yukon Bird Club is a registered non-profit, charitable organization. Club post box, with attention to: Newsletter Editor. Membership fees: Suggestions for content are always welcome. Individual $15.00 Family * $25.00 Senior/Student ** $10.00 Institutional $50.00 IMPORTANT: Contributing $50.00 Supporting $100.00 All sightings of rare or notable birds Lifetime $200.00 should be sent directly to the Sightings * Family memberships cover two or Coordinator at: [email protected] more people living at one address. ** Including all for whom finances are limited. Foreign members please pay by Canadian dollar or money order. 2012 Board of Directors For more information contact: Yukon Bird Club President ........................................... Helmut Grünberg Box 31054, Whitehorse, YT Treasurer .......................................... Helmut Grünberg Y1A 5P7 (Canada) Secretary ........................................... Jim Hawkings [email protected] Special Projects Coordinator ........ Pam Sinclair Field Trip Coordinator ................... Tracy Allard Events Coordinator ........................ Betty Sutton YBC Web Site: www.yukonweb.com/community/ybc Sightings Coordinator ................... Cameron Eckert Yukon Warbler is published by the Yukon Bird Club. Checklist Coordinator .................... Cameron Eckert Copyright © 2012 Yukon Bird Club. All rights reserved. Birdathon Coordinator ................. Jim Hawkings Printed material, artwork, or photographs may not Youth Coordinator ......................... Devon Yacura be reproduced by any means without permission Newsletter Editor ........................... Scott Williams from the author, artist, or photographer. All other General Director ............................. Al Cushing material may not be reproduced by any means with- out the Editor's permission. Yukon Warbler Editor: Scott Williams Editorial office e-mail: [email protected] Cover: Dusky Grouse, 11.May.2012, Nares Moun- tain, Carcross. Photo: Joel Luet Yukon Warbler — Fall 2012 Yukon Warbler Fall 2012 The show was designed to take only an hour, but it ran Club Raises Visibility in from 1:30 to 4:00 and had twenty-ive interested birders out. There were many questions and lots of enthusiasm. I the Community think we could have stayed even longer. by Ione Christensen Our last show at the MacBride Museum was on Oct 3rd from 7:00 to 9:00 PM with thirteen in attendance. The he Yukon Bird Club pre- evening shows attract primarily sented six shows over the T locals, but we did have one new summer. Ione Christensen put Yukoner: a very enthusiastic together four PowerPoint birder who had only been in the presentations, each to run territory for a week, and is a about one and a half hours, de- new member of the YBC. pending on questions from the audience. Shyloh Van Deft did Our Events Coordinator, Betty all the narration, giving an ex- Sutton, had posters up all over cellent presentation on each town to attract both locals and bird, highlighting any special visitors alike (thanks, Betty!). characteristics that would help The MacBride Museum staff new birders identify the avian. publicized the events as well, Nick Guenette set up his sound and were always very helpful, equipment for most of the setting up the room and projec- shows so that we had the added tor. Our thanks go to them as advantage of audio identiica- well. This was a win–win ar- tion. Ione Christensen and Shyloh Van Delft at the MacBride Museum in rangement for all of us, and we hope to do it again next year. Five of our shows were a joint Whitehorse (photo: I. Christensen). We encourage Club members to venture with the MacBride Mu- send us your best bird shots, as we want to change the seum. This worked very well, as we were able to tap into photos we use and keep the presentations fresh. visitors at the Museum over the summer. It was helpful to both the Museum and our Club. Both Shyloh and Nick did a great job, and it is wonderful to work with young people who are so dedicated and knowl- We had two shows on Birds of Spring, the irst of which edgeable; it bodes well for the future of the Yukon Bird was on May 23rd from 7:00 to 9:00 PM. With twenty-one Club. people, this was our largest audience for Whitehorse. The July 11th Birds of Summer show went from 1:30 to 3:30 and attracted ifteen, most of whom were visitors to the Yukon. We did, however, have several Club members there to help ill the seats; these members were faithful at all our NAOC-V shows. Again on Aug 8th we ran a show from 1:30 to 3:00, by Mary Whitley with fourteen at this one. t was with some trepidation that I registered for the I North American Ornithological Conference in Vancouver (NAOC-V). What do I know about birds compared to the experts who will be there? Will I understand the talks at all? As it turns out, I did know enough to understand most of the talks. But I quickly realized that anything to do with statistics was beyond me. As I talked to others, it was ap- parent that the stats were beyond many. The format was like a ten-ring circus, with up to ten 15- minute talks being presented at the same time in three separate buildings at the University of British Columbia. The talks were grouped into categories: ecology, breeding biology, phylogeography, conservation, ecotoxicology and Shyloh Van Delft, Nick Guenette, and Ione Christensen in Tagish pollution, movements and dispersal, models and methods, (photo: S. Van Delft). population biology, conservation, tropical ecology, commu- nity ecology, parental care, physiology and hormones, sex- ual selection, migration and stopover, behaviour, breeding Shyloh, being from Tagish, asked the Community Club biology, climate, life histories, habitat relationships, urban there if they would like us to do a show, and they were de- ecology, evolution, songs and vocalizations, systematics lighted. We made up a special for them: A Tagish Bird Walk. and taxonomy, and molecular ecology. In practical terms, Page 3 Yukon Warbler Fall 2012 due to the location of the three buildings, it was not possi- with the parade of shorebirds in Ladner as the tide was ble to go from one category to another without missing rising. The bird of the day was the Stilt Sandpiper. most of a presentation. This resulted in some prioritizing. The decision was complicated by the August heat, so run- ning from one building to another was out of the question. Dusky Grouse Hike There were also two poster sessions. Each group of post- ers was available for only two days. This created a crowd Friday, May 11, 2012 scene, with people jostling for position to see the posters and talk to the presenters. Again, there were many topics: by Dan Kemble behaviour, biogeography, breeding biology, brood parasit- ne of the interesting things about hosting the Blue ism, climate, community ecology, conservation, diseases Grouse Hike is not knowing who will attend. The de- and parasites, ecological models and survey methods, eco- O mographics and numbers are totally unpredictable. The toxicology and pollution, evolution, foraging, general ecol- only constant is that we always attract interesting and ap- ogy, habitat relationships, landscape ecology, life histories, preciative folks. That's why we do it. This spring's partici- mating systems, migration and stopover biology, molecu- pants seemed to be mostly French Canadian (and French) lar ecology, phylogenetics and phylogeography, physiology women. Much to the chagrin of my lovely, loving, but hormones and immunology, population biology, sexual somewhat suspicious wife—Nancy—who could not attend selection, song and vocalizations, systematics, taxonomy this time. We didn't get any locals this year other than me and morphology, tropical ecology, and urban and agricul- and the unstoppable Joel Luet. But there were, I believe, 14 tural ecology. The advantage of the poster sessions was of us, and that's pretty good. And it was an enthusiastic that you could talk to the presenter; this was impossible at group. I'd like to thank the Bird Club's Events Coordinator, the talks, given the tight schedule. Tracy Allard, for her invaluable assistance with advertising There were exhibitors in the same space as the posters. this event and also for her help and encouragement. Nancy These ranged from NGOs (Klamath Bird Observatory) to and I would also like to thank and acknowledge the tre- universities (Cornell) to businesses (EchoTrack Inc. and mendous support of past Event Coordinator Jenny Trap- Leica Optics). I found the Cornell exhibit interesting, as nell. We're particularly pleased with her rave review of our they had the Macaulay Library available. This is a compila- efforts in her What's Up Yukon article (May 3, 2012 issue). tion of bird songs and calls from Canada, Mexico, and the Also, we love it when young people attend, so thanks U.S. One of the foremost researchers who collects these Roxanne, for bringing your energetic sidekick, Havana. recordings in the ield was there. He had recorded Alaskan "What about the birds?", I can hear some of you rasp. Well, specialties like the Bluethroat and Wheatear. we did see birds. Our event is no Birdathon; we focus on a Another exhibit had examples of the data recorders used single species, which we've always managed to deliver: the to determine the location of birds. These “light loggers” Dusky (or Blue) Grouse. And this works, primarily because had been mentioned in several talks I attended.